Farmers Paid Less And Were Paid Less

The preliminary All Farm Products Index of Prices Received by Farmers in December was down 5.7% from November, Brownfield reports. The National Ag Statistics Service said the Crop Index was 7.1% lower, while the Livestock Index slipped 3.2% from a month earlier. Producers received lower prices for cattle, corn, milk and soybeans, higher prices for broilers, hogs, lettuce and strawberries. The Prices Received Index is 6.3% below December of 2007.



The Index of Prices Paid by Farmers in December was down 2.2% from November but 6.6% above December of 2007. Compared to November, farmers paid less in December for fuel, fertilizer, feed, poultry and livestock except feeder pigs which were $20.00 higher.



Fertilizer prices were down 5.3% from November but are still running 62% above a year ago. Fuels on the other hand were 14% lower than November and 31% below December of last year.



For the Crop Index, the average corn price in December was $4.05 per bushel, 21 cents below November, but 28 cents higher than a year ago. Soybeans averaged $8.97 in December, 41 cents under November and $1.03 below a year ago. The all wheat price in December averaged $5.91 per bushel, 37 cents lower than November and $1.80 under December of last year. The all hay price was $141 per ton, down $6.00 from November but $14.00 higher than a year ago.



Dairy prices were down 6.9% from last month; the all milk price comes in at $15.90 that is $1.20 below November and $5.60 below December of last year. Fluid milk was down $1.20 from last month and manufacturing grade was 70 cents cheaper.



Daily Dairy Report notes that dairy producers could be facing a real profitability squeeze in the coming months. As noted by the Ag Prices Report, the all milk price dropped $1.20 from November, while the feed for those dairy cows slipped only 5% giving us the lowest income-over-feed costs since the summer of 2006.